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watts/gallon is almost as useless as inch per gallon. t12 put out less light / watt than t8 (or any other small number) the cardamine might survive under those lights, ive never kept it at all so i dont have experience. im just seeing medium/high lighting for them.
those homedepot lights normally have bad reflectors so i wouldnt count on hitting the medium mark with lights (if you are using them.

although.... if you had say 6 clamp style lights and 6 spiral CFL (23w 6500k) then you can be border line high lighting. then again you run into needing co2 and more ferts.

for a 55g the only good choice for co2 would be a preasurized canister (10 pounds ish) im going threw the same proccess trying to find a cheap way to keep my high light plants. you can go with paintball set ups but those would need replacing often lol. but mine is heavy planted so i cant tell you for sure with your set up.

sorry.

KING OF THE GOLD BARBS RAWR!!!!I wonder if i plant one of my tiger barbs would the demon seed grow to a full tree?gotta love them bunnies! I.R.S.: We've got what it takes to take what you've got!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=184368
According to this guy's study, it's supposed to have great reflectors and pump out around 50 degrees PAR at the substrate (at 20 inches down), which is what he claims is the high end of the medium-light range. I have nothing to back up his claim, but it is the best PAR study I could find on the internet.
However, I do agree with genocidex on the DIY CO2. It will never be as reliable or constant as a pressurized system, and there's a chance it still won't work great at that because of the tank size.
However, unreliable CO2 is better than no CO2 at all. Do it if you have to.
This journal might give you some helpful info: http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aqua...d.php?t=109991
Pages 1-3 talk about his experience with DIY CO2.

im very surprised they have good reflectors in those things. hoppy has some good articles, and i think his measurements for par is debatable ( but with info like this it will always be debated lol). but something is just telling me the t8's beating out t5hos is a bit far fetched (just my observations.) also a point he didnt use any water. which is a bit of a factor. but it looks like the those t8 should work for medium light plants.

with things like this tho, alot is left for trial and error.

edit: oops i forgot to add this, ive found that adding a few inches to the depth of the tank would be better than using the measured depth. its usually better to under estimate the power of the light a bit. i would judge the lights on those charts for a 55g at the 25" mark

Last edited by genocidex; 03-27-2013 at 04:02 AM.

KING OF THE GOLD BARBS RAWR!!!!I wonder if i plant one of my tiger barbs would the demon seed grow to a full tree?gotta love them bunnies! I.R.S.: We've got what it takes to take what you've got!

Ain't that the truth? There's always so much to be left to trial and error...
He didn't use water? I had no idea... But thanks for the tip, that should prove to be helpful in the future. I've been debating on whether or not to attempt a DIY par meter myself.
But your hunch is correct - it didn't, by any means, beat t5hos. Not by a long shot. However, it's supposed to have great reflectors and it beats out regular polished aluminum reflectors on t8 lights.

@ESR: Genocidex is right. Watts per gallon is like trying to use a leaky pail to measure the volume of the water of a swimming pool. Watts=light. Watts are units of the electrical energy going into the light. What actually comes out, however, is a completely different matter. The t12 fixtures may have more wattage, but that's because they're less efficient. That's not a good thing.
In theory, you could slide by with that lighting fixture and some DIY CO2. However, it may not work, and it would be safer and better for your tank to go with good t5s and pressurized CO2. It's up to you whether the risk is worth it.